E2M8: The Portals of Chaos (Heretic)

E2M8: The Portals of Chaos is the eighth and final level in the Hell's Maw episode of Heretic. It uses the music track "Arpo" by Kevin Schilder.

Essentials
Press the switch in front of you to be carried up to an open area with fire gargoyles. Take any items you need here, including a Silver Shield, then head east through a gap in the wall and push past some nitrogolems to the east side of the map where some weredragons are waiting. Go up the steps by the west wall and dispose of any waiting fire gargoyles, take the Mystic Urn here (on bringest them oneth (BTO) skill level or lower) then go down another set of steps to reach the portals where the maulotaurs are waiting.

The number of maulotaurs varies with skill level - one on thou-needeth a wet nurse and yellowbellies-r-us, two on BTO, or three on thou art a smite-meister and black plague possesses thee. Keep strafing to avoid the maulotaur's attacks, especially their floor-hugging lines of fire, and use the Ring of Invulnerability in the middle of the arena to help you. Once all the maulotaurs are killed, the wooden barriers blocking the four corner portals will lower - enter any of these portals to finish the episode.

Other points of interest
The north, east, south and west portals in the center of the map have a Phoenix Rod, a Morph Ovum, a Hellstaff and a Tome of Power inside them respectively. Entering these portals will send you to the opposite side of the map.

Secrets

 * 1) On the west side of the map is a brown rock with an Ethereal Crossbow. Take the crossbow then look behind the green wall in the south-west corner to find that a chamber has opened containing a Pile of Mace Spheres, a Mystic Urn, an Enchanted Shield and a Wings of Wrath. (sector 34) On BTO or lower, the chamber will also contain two stacks of Mace Spheres.
 * 2) On the west side of the map is a pit with a Dragon Claw. Take the weapon then go to the east side of the map and look for another green wall in the north-east corner where a doorway has opened. Go through and run south through some crushers to reach a Chaos Device, a Shadowsphere and a Bag of Holding (plus a Wings of Wrath on BTO or lower). (sector 73) If you open the south wall you will find one or more disciples of D'Sparil guarding a teleporter that will put you back before the crushers.

Bugs
The player 1 start (Thing 0) has no flags set for any of the three difficulty classes, but because of special handling in the engine, it functions normally in the level.

Current records
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:

The data was last verified in its entirety on August 31, 2023.

Player spawns
This level contains four spawn points:
 * 1) facing south. (thing 235)
 * 2) facing east. (thing 236)
 * 3) facing north. (thing 237)
 * 4) facing north-east. (thing 238)

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level: